Our fee for charity transactions is 0%

While the opaque and regressively unfair terms and conditions used by banks to exploit small and medium-sized businesses are becoming increasingly well-documented, the fact that charities needn’t get hit by overblown charges when trading in low volumes of ‘exotic’ currencies appears to be an issue on which philanthropists are still in the dark.

The Missing Millions report recommends that charities and NGOs approach FX transactions in the same way as any other procurement – or indeed, the same way as any business making any high-value purchase. But as is the case with so many organisations, there is an extremely trusting misconception that banks will offer the best rates on foreign payments when quite the opposite is true.

“There is an extremely trusting misconception that banks will offer the best rates”

So, in theory, charities should be shopping around for the best rate offered on their foreign payments, looking for the deal that will allow the vital money they’re sending to do the most good in the country it’s being sent to.

In practice, there’s no need to shop around.

Even though we’ve always focused our efforts on offering the lowest possible flat 0.2% fee on foreign payments for our business customers, we are going one step further in the service we’re offering to charities:

Flat 0% commission on foreign payments, guaranteeing 100% of the currency sent will arrive at its destination – at no charge whatsoever.

No fees, no hidden spreads – through the power of P2P technology, we can wing the entirety of a charity’s donations directly to the people who need them. It’s hard to imagine a more efficient way of sending aid abroad without tying it to a fleet of condors, which – while magnificent – would be somewhat less reliable.

We want the full force of your charitable efforts to be felt abroad, and there’s no need to waste time shopping around for the best deal. Unless you find a bank generous/incompetent enough to send more money than you give them*, you will find it literally impossible to beat a 0% fee on your foreign payments.

Fintech has the power to change more than just finance.

*should you find such a bank, please
a) let us know
b) let no one else know

James is freemarket’s Chief Commercial Officer. He has a history of finding new ways to solve age-old financial challenges and was responsible for launching some of the first online money transfer and prepaid card initiatives in Europe.